The West’s reaction has been divided, slow and weak. Belarusian protesters deserve support
stole our country. [Now] they are stealing the best of us.” So said Svetlana Alexievich, a Nobel prize-winning writer, of the rulers of her native Belarus. Since mass protests erupted after a blatantly rigged presidential election in August, riot police and plain-clothes goons have been beating up peaceful demonstrators. On September 7th, in broad daylight, men without uniforms abducted Maria Kolesnikova , one of three women leading the protests and the only one still inside the country.
Ms Kolesnikova is being persecuted not only for her role in the protests but also, more importantly, because she is the leading member of the National Co-ordinating Council. This body was launched by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who probably won the election on August 9th but who has been forced into exile. It aims to negotiate a peaceful end to the unpopular dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko. He has refused to negotiate, just as he has refused to talk to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
He prefers to talk to Vladimir Putin, the president of next-door Russia, who props up his regime. Mr Putin, whose own challenger, Alexei Navalny, has been poisoned by a nerve agent, has endorsed Mr Lukashenko’s rigged election and his use of violence. He has warned the West not to meddle in Belarus, which Russia has subsidised for many years and with which it has a common market. At Mr Lukashenko’s request, Mr Putin has pledged to support Belarus with his own law-enforcers if necessary.
The West’s reaction has been divided, slow and weak. The Baltic states and Poland, which have had first-hand experience of Soviet occupation, have imposed sanctions on Mr Lukashenko and offered support to the Belarusian opposition. Germany and France, however, appear to have heeded Mr Putin’s warning to stay out of the dispute. The European Union has yet to impose any sanctions on Mr Lukashenko, though some measures are under discussion.
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